A bit of a frustrating game, Isle got their stick in the passing lanes a lot.  A lot of plays that would be tripping PP on other nights went for nothing tonight. NYI made good use of opportunities. 

well, you can't win 'em all. i hate blaming the refs, but this was also a poorly called game.

Isles took 59 games - but finally got their first Empty Net Goal this season - 32nd NHL team to accomplish that this year.   This one could have gone either way.   

Too bad Ollie's goals didn't Maata.

Watched half the game, wasn't impressed. 

Tough next opponent followed by a tough 4 game road trip. If they can take 5 of those 10 points they will be in decent position down the stretch. But a tough month and a half left.

from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now,

"This will be a disappointing missed opportunity, to have this game tied up twice in the third and to not come out with a point, Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. But again, were simply not good enough to not have intensity in our game for stretches of time.

Lalonde and players were left disheartened by their performance level against an Islanders team that is chasing them for an Eastern Conference wild card spot. The Islanders beat them 5-3 to halt Detroits six-game winning streak....

We couldnt get any rhythm going at all, Lalonde said. They were winning races, they were winning 50-50s. Again, when youre in the slot and someone lifts your stick and its 2-on-0, the goalie.

Lalonde said the Red Wings werent ready to play, which is shocking given that they only gave up 10 goals to opponents in their six-game winning streak.

You gotta be ready all the time, Lalonde said. Theres no doubt in my mind if we started the first period like we started the second period, we play from the lead all night instead of chasing it all night.

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You're not gonna win all your games. Wings played well in spurts. Isles played better.  Not by a lot but enough to win. It's a style the Wings might want to emulate come playoff time.

from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

There would be no dramatic Wings' comeback this time, ending their six-game winning streak.

"I didn't feel like we did enough of winning hockey tonight to have success," forward David Perron said. "We chased the game the whole time. We did a good job of that getting goals when we needed to, but not good enough for me."...

"We know this time of year we're going to get to other team's best, we've earned that," Maatta said. "We're in position, especially these games when they're chasing us, we're getting their best. They battled and competed and we have to match that higher level. These games are tough. It's not easy to win these games."...

Maatta was the Wings' offensive star in this game, something that doesn't happen often. But the defensive defenseman was set up nicely by Perron on the first goal, and Shayne Gostisbehere on the second, and Maatta didn't make a mistake on either blistering shot.

"I loved the finish," Lalonde said. "But you could see when he's (Maatta) got confidence with the puck, he's a real good player. He can find the middle of the ice and break out, which is hard to do in this league. He was skating, had confidence with the puck and he was great."

Lyon allowed four goals on 26 shots but Lalonde didn't like the Wings' game in front of Lyon, more than anything the goaltender did.

"It's tough, an 84 percent save percentage is not a recipe for success," Lalonde said. "But my initial instinct is I can't fault him for any of the goals and he made some key saves. It's just one of those games where it just didn't go his way."...

"We were a little sluggish at the start," Perron said. "We weren't putting pucks in the right area and get our forecheck going. This is what playoffs can look like.

"Even throughout the six-game win streak there are some games in there we weren't fully satisfied. We want to for sure kind of add a level to our game, a consistency of winning habits. We're definitely looking for that right now."

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To me, the difference in the game was that Sorokin outplayed Lyon. When the Wings needed a stop to keep the game tied, he didnt make it. Sorokin made the saves to make sure the Wings never got the lead even when they tied it up.

We were a pipe away from tied with ~5 minutes left, but we played from behind all night. The start wasn't great and we got what we deserved.